Prospector Trails
Minerals/Base metals
About 80% of lead goes into lead-acid batteries (vehicles and backup power). It is the most recycled of the base metals.
01 · Where it's mined
Mine output was about 4.5 Mt in 2025, with China producing 1.9 Mt; Australia, Peru, the US, Russia and India follow. Most lead supply is recycled metal from batteries.
Mine production, Pb content, 2025. Columns on the globe show each country's share.
02 · A century of output
03 · Where it goes
Lead ores and concentrates, 2024, by value
Arcs run from exporter to importer; thicker means more value. CEPII BACI reconciled trade data.
04 · What it's used for
Demand is steady and follows the vehicle fleet and backup power; electric vehicles still use small lead-acid batteries.
05 · Who calls it critical
Critical only for the US and Korea. The EU 2023 study gave lead an end-of-life recycling input rate of 83%, the highest of the metals assessed.
06 · Mines to know
Spikes mark mines with output in open data; height follows reported output. Where a public source says where a mine's product goes, an arc runs to that plant.
Every lead mine and project, by countryThe detail
Mine output was about 4.5 Mt in 2025, with China producing 1.9 Mt; Australia, Peru, the US, Russia and India follow. Most lead supply is recycled metal from batteries.
Demand is steady and follows the vehicle fleet and backup power; electric vehicles still use small lead-acid batteries.
Critical only for the US and Korea. The EU 2023 study gave lead an end-of-life recycling input rate of 83%, the highest of the metals assessed.
Lead was produced domestically by five lead mines in Missouri plus as a byproduct at two zinc mines in Alaska and two silver mines in Idaho. The value of recoverable lead from ore mined in 2025 was an estimated $650 million, 8% less than that in 2024. Nearly all lead concentrate production has been exported since the last primary lead refinery closed in 2013. The value of the secondary lead produced in 2025 was $2.4 billion, a 4% decrease from that in 2024. The lead-acid battery industry accounted for an estimated 67% of U.S. apparent consumption of lead during 2025. Lead-acid batteries were primarily used as starting-lighting-ignition (SLI) batteries for automobiles, as industrial-type batteries for standby power for computer and telecommunications networks, and for motive power.
During the first 10 months of 2025, the average North American price for lead was 106 cents per pound, 3% less than the annual average price of 108.8 cents per pound in 2024. Global stocks of lead in LME-approved warehouses were 217,000 tons at the end of October, 10% less than those at yearend 2024. In 2025, domestic mine production of recoverable lead decreased by 9% from that in 2024 owing to several lead-producing mines reducing production. Estimated U.S. apparent consumption of refined lead increased by 8% from that in 2024, and the net import reliance increased to 33% from 27%. In the first 8 months of 2025, 23 million spent SLI lead-acid batteries were exported, a 23% increase from 19 million batteries exported in the same period in 2024. According to the International Lead and Zinc Study Group,5 global refined lead production in 2025 was forecast to increase slightly to 13.3 million tons and refined lead consumption to increase slightly to 13.25 million tons. On November 7, 2025, the U.S. Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals was published in the Federal Register (90 FR 50494). The changes in the 2025 list from the prior list published in 2022 (87 FR 10381) were the addition of copper, lead, potash, rhenium, silicon, and silver, based on the U.S. Geological Survey updated methodology for the 2025 list. As required by the Energy Act, public comment and interagency input were requested in response to the draft U.S. list of critical minerals published in the Federal Register (90 FR 41591). Based on that input, boron, metallurgical coal, phosphate rock, and uranium were also added.
Substitution by plastics has reduced the use of lead in cable covering and cans. Tin has replaced lead in solder for potable water systems. The electronics industry has moved toward lead-free solders and flat-panel displays that do not require lead shielding. Steel and zinc are common substitutes for lead in wheel weights.
In 2025, an estimated 1 million tons of secondary lead was produced, an amount equivalent to 70% of apparent domestic consumption. Nearly all secondary lead was recovered from old scrap, mostly lead-acid batteries.
Identified world lead resources total more than 2 billion tons. In recent years, significant lead resources have been identified in association with zinc and (or) silver or copper deposits in Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia, and the United States (Alaska).